Penn State CB Kalen King will talk himself through covering Ohio State star Marvin Harrison Jr.

Even if Penn State cornerback Kalen King is lined up in press coverage Saturday, Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. probably won’t be able to hear the words tumbling from King’s mouth pre-snap. Trash talk? No. Not unless Harrison talks first.

Rather than direct his words at his opponent, King will direct them toward himself. This inner monologue won’t happen in his mind. He’ll literally talk to himself, but with more than 100,000 buzzing at Ohio Stadium, he’s the only one who will hear.

On a snap when he stares down Harrison or fellow Buckeyes star Emeka Egbuka, King might say something like this:

You’re the best in the country. You’re the best in the country. You’re the best in the country.

On a critical third down, King might say something like this:

It’s money time. Get off the field. Get off the field.

For King, who ranks among the top handful of draft-eligible cornerbacks, the affirmations help him stay in the mindset required to guard aliens such as Harrison one-on-one. “The more I hear myself say certain things,” King says, “the more I start to believe it.”

King knows he might finish Saturday afternoon as the top draft-eligible cornerback if he can handle Harrison, the son of a Hall of Fame receiver who is considered to be the possibly the best prospect at the position since Randy Moss left Marshall after the 1997 season. 

The two clashed several times last year when King played in the same secondary as 2023 first-rounder Joey Porter Jr. Harrison beat King for a 39-yard gain down the right sideline in the first quarter. In the second, King got the Beaver Stadium crowd roaring when he knifed between knifed between blocks from Julian Fleming and Cade Stover and dropped Egbuka for a 1-yard loss on third-and-5.

Later, King had such good position against Fleming on the sideline that Fleming had to turn into the DB and knock a potential interception out of King’s hands.

Late in the second, Harrison converted a fourth down with a catch against King, but the defensive call required King to give Harrison so much cushion that he had no chance to make a play behind the line to gain. On the next play, King was in press coverage and jammed Harrison hard at the line of scrimmage. But Harrison’s body control is other-worldly, and he regained his footing and caught a beautiful back shoulder throw from C.J. Stroud for a 21-yard gain.

There aren’t a lot of other plays to recount because QBs rarely throw at receivers King is covering man-to-man. King takes such throws as personal insults, but he understands he’s going to get a few his way Saturday. Harrison ranks No. 10 in the nation in receiving yards per game (100.7).

King relishes the challenge, though. “It’s always exciting for me. I can test my skills,” King says. “I never have a problem competing with the best because I consider myself one of the best as well.”

If Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord throws a 50/50 ball in King’s direction, the receiver should be ready to get bodied. King is only 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, but he plays much bigger. The reason? Thank King’s father TaDarrell and his twin brother Kobe.

When the twins were in elementary school in Detroit, TaDarrell would take them outside, throw the ball high in the air and tell them the one who caught the pass was that day’s winner. Kobe was always larger — he’s currently a 6-1, 242-pound linebacker for Penn State — but Kalen refused to let his bigger, stronger brother out-muscle him. Those battles, Kalen believes, turned him into the kind of tackler most opponents don’t expect at corner.

“I have that natural competitive toughness,” King said.

He’ll need it Saturday. For a cornerback, the assignment doesn’t get much tougher than Harrison. Millions will be watching, and included in that group will be evaluators from every NFL team waiting to see how the hyped corner handles the hyped receiver and vice versa.

But if King believes what he tells himself before each play, he might place himself next to Harrison in the draft green room next April.